Meaning in isolation?

[Slough Walker]

Someone whom I speak to regularly commented that until each of us finds "meaning", our lives will be miserable. In The Human Predicament, philosopher David Benatar defines meaning in terms of impact on others. Both perspectives link meaning to other people. In other words, meaning can't be found in isolation. It's been a while since I read Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, but I suspect that Frankl would agree that meaning doesn't exist in isolation from others.

And yet, if meaning can't be found in isolation, if meaning requires impact to others' lives, then meaning is outside your locus of control. You can't have a relationship unless the other person wants a relationship with you. You can't work a job unless the employer hires you. Likewise, you can't have impact on others unless others accept your offering and its impact. What happens when you try to have meaning but your efforts are unappreciated or rejected? What happens when you don't know how to create meaning or what you can do that would be meaningful, and you don't even know where to start? That seems like a potential Catch-22: How do you create meaning without connecting with others, and how do you connect with others without creating meaning?

Or, maybe these definitions of meaning aren't necessarily true, and meaning can be found in isolation?

 

[DarkRange55]

This is just extemporaneous, off the top of my head without my real thought so take it with a grain of salt…

I don't think life is miserable without finding meaning, but I do think life will remain unfulfilled—which is an illusive target to start. But when it comes to company, yes I think part of that fulfillment comes from who we surround ourselves. Humans are social creatures and in our primal days, we existed in tribes for that reason. It meant survival of the individual and the species. Without a community, the individual is basically cast into isolation and at a primal level that means death.

So the search for meaning starts by finding your tribe, and then by finding your place within that tribe.

 

[DarkRange55]

Piggybacking

I believe that the more we can locate WITHIN our control the more of it we have. While it is true that we can't "control" what others do, we do have a huge amount of control over what WE DO in relation to them. An example is while I cant control my girlfriend's behavior directly, I can increase my expectations of being treated well, integrity safety etc. If I treat her well, with integrity etc. & yes happiness and meaning is found in great measures in the quality of our interpersonal relations!

 

[DarkRange55]

Some people enjoy the search.
Some hermits find meaning in isolation.
Most find meaning in impact on people since this is evo-favored through helping kin.

 

[litttlebimple]

I think most people can't have a meaningful life in isolation, but it does happen. Having dedication to maybe a religious or artistic practice is enough for some people. Maybe check out Thomas Merton if that interests you?

 

[DarkRange55]

The German philosopher Immanuel Kant never left Königsberg. King Louis XVI of France never left his Palace at Versailles during his life (except to be guillotined in Paris in 1793).